Lions Firing DC Kelvin Sheppard Addressed by Dan Campbell After Loss to Bryce Young, Panthers on SNF

Despite another poor performance in Sunday night's 32-26 loss to the Carolina Panthers, it sounds like Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard's job is safe for now.

Per ESPN's Eric Woodyard, Lions head coach Dan Campbell said after the loss that the team will "exhaust everything" before considering moving on from Sheppard, who is in his second year as Detroit's DC.

"I'm not talking about all that," Campbell said of Sheppard. "I'm talking about getting better right now with what we've got. And that's what we're going to do. We're going to find a way to get better with what we've got."

Sunday night's loss to the Panthers marked the third time in four weeks that the Lions' defense surrendered at least 30 points. Detroit ranks last in the league with 31.8 points allowed per game this year. The team hadn't allowed 30 or more points in three of its first four games since 2008, the franchise's infamous 0-16 campaign.

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Despite this year's shortcomings, Campbell reiterated that he has faith in Sheppard's ability to turn the defense around.

"Let's look at it and let's get it fixed," Campbell said. "But I know this: We go into panic mode when we've got 13 games left and we're 2-2, that's not the right thing to do. I just don't believe that. I never have. So, I know there's frustration and look, I'm frustrated. I know the players are frustrated."

Lions players echoed Campbell's support of Sheppard and said they will work to clean up their mistakes before facing the Arizona Cardinals (1-3) in Week 5.

"It starts with the players because we're out there and we make the scheme come alive. So, honestly, you can just put it on me, put it on the players," said All-Pro linebacker Jack Campbell, who finished with a game-high 14 tackles. "But, I mean, Shep works hard. Dan believes in him, I believe in him. He's made of the right stuff. We're going to get this figured out. We've just got to stay the course, stick together. Right now, it's us versus everybody and I'll state the obvious, we're not playing very good defensively and we've got to fix it."